The Central Bank of Brazil has granted Telefónica | Vivo a Sociedade de Crédito Direto (SCD) licence to expand its fintech services. With this licence, Vivo can now offer a range of credit products through its subsidiary, Vivo Pay Holding Financeira.

These services include credit analysis, digital capital distribution, insurance, and third-party credit collection. However, the SCD licence mandates that Vivo Pay must be funded solely by its parent company and prohibits the raising of capital from the public. Vivo Pay has an initial capital investment of BRL 4.7 million (EUR 753,000), which exceeds the Central Bank’s minimum requirement of BRL 1 million for issuing an SCD licence to fintech businesses.

With this authorisation, Vivo plans to expand its current financial services. According to local media reports, the company aims to reduce its reliance on partnerships with established fintech companies and focus on developing its own offerings. Expanding beyond telecommunications The growth of Vivo’s fintech platform aligns with the company's broader strategy to diversify into non-telecommunications sectors.

This approach is intended to improve customer retention, increase spending, and support profitability. Vivo has explored sectors such as education, energy, entertainment, finance, health, and smart home technology as part of this effort. Additionally, it has built a digital business-to-business services ecosystem that includes big data, cloud services, cybersecurity, the Internet of Things (IoT), IT equipment sales, and messaging.

The expansion of Vivo Pay follows the company’s recent venture in the energy sector, where it established a joint venture with Brazil-based Auren in June 2024. Named GUD Energia, the venture is focused on providing energy services to businesses with demands under 500 kilowatts, with plans to eventually expand into lower-voltage and residential markets. Looking ahead, Vivo continues to explore mergers and acquisitions, particularly in the cloud, cybersecurity, and IoT sectors.

The company’s most recent acquisition was cloud services provider IPNET, which, according to Vivo officials, will enable the company to extend its Google service portfolio and explore new areas such as workplace transformation. In addition to these efforts, Vivo is investing in other sectors through Vivo Ventures, its corporate venture capital unit. Vivo Ventures plans to allocate BRL 320 million to support startups across various industries.

So far, it has invested in companies including the telemedicine platform Conexa Health, customer retention platform CRMBonus, integration platform Digibee, open finance provider Klavi, and car consortium administrator Klubi. Source: Link .